


The Man Who Knew Everything

by Rellanka



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: And Could Have Been In This One If Terrible Things Didn't Happen, Angst, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, But It Was Recriprocated in Multiple Realities, M/M, One-Sided Relationship, Pining, Post-Endgame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2020-02-07 06:07:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18614683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rellanka/pseuds/Rellanka
Summary: Endgame SpoilersStephen Strange knows what has to happen.





	The Man Who Knew Everything

**Author's Note:**

> Read bottom notes for mild warning. You probably already know what it is.

This is the story of the man who knew everything.

***

 _Don’t make me say it,_ Stephen begged silently, staring into Tony’s eyes, _Don’t make me say it out loud, or I’ll…_

He cut the thought off forcibly, but he still knew. 

He knew what he’d do, knew the lengths he’d go through. Knew that after saying it, he’d convince himself that maybe he’d be able to find another way, look for something, anything, that would allow him to change Tony’s fate. Even though he knew he wouldn’t find one. Even though he’d failed at millions of attempts of doing exactly that.

He’d still try, and they’d lose, and everyone would be lost. 

Including the man he was trying to save. 

_I have known you for over fourteen million days, Tony Stark._ He thought while he stared into Tony’s (beautiful, wonderful, **heartbreaking** ) eyes, _I know you. I know your strength. I know your beauty. I know what you look like when you cry. I know what you look like when you laugh. I know how you are when you are happy, and affectionate, and loving, and angry. I know your heart. I know that no matter how I begged, you never ran. I know that you would never leave a battlefield where you could still save someone. I know that I would do anything to save you, if you asked me to. I know that I can’t. I know we’ve lived lifetimes that you don’t remember. I know I love you. I know that you don’t love me._

Stephen knew that nothing of his thoughts were present in his gaze, knew that Tony would never know how much, how deeply, he cared, but something… something in his eyes must have convinced Tony, for the man turned away and continued fighting, unspoken questions left behind him.

He felt relief when Tony turned away. 

He felt devastated, like he’d been cut open, like everything inside of him was seeping out even as he desperately tried to stop it, to stop his entire body from collapsing at the loss of something so vital. 

He turned his gaze away from Tony’s retreating form and back towards the fight.

Later. He would have time for grief later. 

For now, he would visit upon these enemies some measure of the pain that was currently wracking him. 

(Even if he tore them apart a thousand times, they would only ever feel a fraction of it.) 

***

This is the story of the man who knew ~~nothing at all and lost~~ everything.

**Author's Note:**

> Reference for implied Canonical Character Death. Sorry for the pain. But hey, maybe this winds up being another one of those universes where Stephen goes "Fuck it all!" and saves Tony anyway and maybe they find out that there are TWO realities in which they win. We can hope, right?
> 
> That last line is Stephen's own thoughts of himself, btw, not meant as an insult for him.


End file.
